Ashes to Ashes
by disc-on-tent
Summary: A little Ghost story? Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Ashes to Ashes.

**Disclaimer: **Stargate: Atlantis isowned by MGM, Gekko, Double Secret Productions and the US Sci-fi channel.

**Setting: **First season.

**Spoilers: **None.

**A/N **Expertly beta-read by Kiky. Thanks Kiky.

**Prologue**

"So what you are saying, McKay, is that all of your energy readings could be the result of seismic activity?" Major John Sheppard made no attempt to keep the sarcasm from his voice as he prepared to bring an end to their rest and lead his team back towards the Stargate. It was not often that McKay was wrong about energy readings and he was going to make the most of it.

"Actually, Major...yes I am." Sheppard smiled, awarding himself a point; the barb had got through and McKay was on the defensive. It had been a long, hot, boring day on M3X-925, an uninhabited, rock-strewn planet of cliffs and mountains where even the trees, which seemed so common on other worlds, were reduced to scrawny shrubs scattered throughout the landscape, and it had not been made any more enjoyable by McKay's continual announcements that the source of his readings was just over the next hill. Now that they were finally heading back to Atlantis the prospect of a cool shower, a warm meal and a break from McKay was looking good.

The sweltering heat had even affected the youthful Lt Ford, and Sheppard watched as he removed his baseball cap and squatted down beside a small stream that tumbled through the rocks, to pour a handful of cool water over his head. Wiping sweat and grit from his eyes, Ford scanned their surroundings, the random movement of heat-haze evidently making it impossible for him to fully relax.

Quietly observing the man, Sheppard reflected on the changes in the young Lieutenant since their arrival on Atlantis. No longer the jaunty kid that had leaped, grinning, through the Stargate, Ford had adjusted well to his new role in Sheppard's team. As his confidence had grown, so had the trust that Sheppard placed in him. There were other, more experienced men under his command, but none that Sheppard felt more deserving of his place.

McKay's tired voice broke into Sheppard's thoughts. "Much as I would like to rest here all day, Major, shouldn't we be getting back to Atlantis? As you so scathingly pointed out, there's nothing of interest here."

Sheppard glanced over at the exhausted McKay, who had finally given up all pretence of taking an interest in the energy readings which had kept them there and now lay flat on his back, with his eyes closed and his head resting on a rock. For the last few miles McKay had barely said a word and the weary set of his shoulders had indicated that all of his energy was being spent just putting one foot in front of the other. The Major contemplated another gibe but took pity on the suffering man.

"OK, Rodney, let's go home." Sheppard leaned down and offered his hand to help McKay to his feet. Rodney was right about one thing; if there was nothing here, then there was no reason to stay. M3X-925 could be added to the list of wipe-outs.

Both men stumbled slightly when one of the numerous minor earth tremors that had plagued them all day shook the ground again; dislodging a small avalanche of stones, which fell with a clatter.

Once again, Ford nervously checked their surroundings. "Is there any chance of a quake bringing the gate down, Sir?" He asked, anxiously.

"Relax, Lieutenant. The Ancients built those things to last. The gate's been here thousands of years, it's not about to fall over now." Sheppard replied as he steadied Rodney, who had finally made it to his feet, and prepared to set off for the Stargate.

"Major Sheppard. Dr McKay. I believe I have found something." Teyla Emmagan, the fourth member of Sheppard's team, showed no signs of discomfort in the disagreeable conditions as she stood before a sheer cliff face, her fingers exploring the rough surface of the stone. Scouting ahead of her team-mates, her sharp eyes had spotted an area where a recent rockfall had exposed a faint, regular fissure in the cliff. Too precise to be a natural fault, the shape and size indicated a concealed doorway.

McKay's tired face came back to life at the prospect of finally finding something interesting on the lifeless planet. Stepping up to the cliff face he stared intently at one of his hand-held Ancient devices as he ran it around the edge of the crack.

"I think that...Ah!" He stopped as the readings changed and gently depressed an area of the cliff with the palm of his hand.

P-90s at the ready, Sheppard and Ford stepped cautiously past the scientist as a pair of thick double doors slid back to reveal a large man-made cave cut into the rock. Sunlight flooded in, illuminating the central area of what looked very much like a bomb shelter. Sheppard flicked on his flashlight and made a sweep of the room. Thick, metal girders braced the walls and supported the high vaulted ceiling.

Resigning himself to a few more hours on M3X-925 before getting back to the comforts of Atlantis, Sheppard called back over his shoulder to the impatiently waiting McKay. "Well, Rodney, looks like there was something to find here after all."

From his position near the doorway, Sheppard made a rapid survey of the cave. It was a square room, about twenty feet across, precisely cut into the solid rock. A ten foot diameter solid metal platform, around three feet high, filled the centre of the cave, and, attached to the circumference of the platform at a height of two feet, he could see about half a dozen metallic objects, the size and shape of soccer balls. A steady trickle of water fell from the ceiling, dripping down to form a rusty puddle on the stone floor. At some time in the very recent past, the central section of the ceiling had partially given way, probably the result of an earth tremor, and a thick layer of dust and debris covered the platform, softening its sharp edges.

Stepping into the room, Sheppard could see that the collapse of the ceiling had had a more serious effect; each of the visible silver spheres showed signs of damage from falling rocks, their smashed outer casings exposing the intricate components inside.

Ford followed Sheppard's gaze. "Any idea why the ceiling came down, Sir?" He asked shining his light over the fallen debris. "I'd've said that this place had been built to take pretty much anything the planet could throw at it."

Sheppard shone his flashlight up into the darkness above. "Looks like the water coming in has rusted through one of the ceiling supports, Lieutenant." Repositioning the light on another part of the damaged area, he went on, "You can see where part of it has given way, just enough to let the loose stuff fall." He surveyed the damage to the girder more carefully. "We should be OK in here; there's still plenty of strength left." Sheppard felt another minor tremor through the soles of his boots and a small shower of dust fell. He ran his fingers through his hair, turning it into sweaty spikes. "Enough to give us some warning before it comes down at least." He turned, and was unsurprised to see McKay already inspecting the contents of one of the spheres. "Any idea what those things were, Rodney?"

McKay held up a piece of twisted metal to the sunlight and answered absently. "Looks somehow familiar, Major. I may be able to work out what they were for when I get this back to Atlantis; but I think it's safe to say that whatever they did, they've stopped doing it now."

"Sir, over here!" Ford's cry came from a dark recess at the edge of the room.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" Sheppard followed the beam of Ford's flashlight to where it was pointing and stared directly into the face of a corpse.

Xx oOo xX

Part 1

"Well, Carson, are they dead?"

"Aye, Major, very dead." Carson Beckett answered Sheppard's sarcastic question in an exasperated tone. Sheppard knew that the medical doctor was never comfortable off-world, but it seemed that his attempts at putting Beckett at his ease were having the opposite effect. The Major had been surprised when Beckett had responded to his radio message informing Atlantis of their discovery by coming to the planet in person, but, evidently, the doctor had let his medical curiosity get the better of him. Now he appeared to be regretting it.

"They've been dead for a matter of two to three weeks I should say." Beckett continued, removing his mask and gloves.

"That's about when the ceiling came down by the looks of it." Sheppard shone his flashlight up at the high vaulted roof and then back down at the nearest body, that of a woman of about 40 years. "But they weren't killed by falling rock." It was a statement rather than a question but Sheppard turned a quizzical eye to the doctor.

"No Major." Beckett rose to his feet and started packing away his equipment. Stretching his back to ease out the stiffness acquired from his careful examinations of the five bodies that had been found lying in a series of dark recesses cut into the perimeter of the room, he continued, "But we won't know exactly why they did die until I've given them full autopsies back on Atlantis."

"OK Doctor, you can send a team back for them." Sheppard glanced around the cave. Ford and Teyla had sensibly positioned themselves outside in the open air, taking advantage of what little breeze the early evening afforded, but the top of McKay's head was just visible as he hunkered down behind the raised area. Sheppard called out to him. "Rodney, we're ready to go."

The head stayed down. "Just a minute, Major, I've found another one of these spheres. It looks intact and I'd like to take it back to Atlantis, if I can just...Oh."

Sheppard had come to recognise a whole range of McKay's 'Ohs', from 'Oh, that was interesting' all the way up to 'Oh, I seem to have triggered the self-destruct'. This one didn't sound too bad, but probably required investigation.

"'Oh' what, Rodney?" Walking around to stand behind McKay, Sheppard peered over his shoulder at the device.

"'Oh' a little blue light has just come on." McKay answered without looking up. "Shows it's still got power at least."

Sheppard waited but McKay showed no signs of continuing. "Couldn't this tinkering wait until you get it back to Atlantis?" Sheppard checked his watch. It would be late morning on Atlantis by now and his plan of shower and food was looking better by the minute.

"I can't get it back until I work out how to detach it, which is what I am trying to do," came the testy reply. "Preferably without damaging it. And it would be a lot easier if..."

A small earth tremor shook the room and a fine shower of grey dust fell from above. Sheppard shifted the weight of his P-90 uneasily. The tremors were starting to make him feel tense and on edge. Out in the open they had been distracting, but, here in the enclosed cave, they were paradoxically leaving him feeling exposed.

"How long is this going to take, McKay?" Shaking dust from his hair, Sheppard squinted up at the ceiling.

"It's OK, Major; I think I've got it now."

As McKay spoke, a second, larger quake almost pitched Sheppard from his feet and he heard an ominous, metallic creaking from above. With a curt "Leave it, Rodney!" Sheppard turned his attention to Dr Beckett who was glancing anxiously towards the doorway. Sheppard hurried over to help the doctor gather together his medical equipment, confident that, given the choice between a piece of fascinating new technology and his own personal safety, Rodney would make the right decision. Sure enough, from the corner of his eye, he saw McKay starting to his feet.

As Rodney stood upright a beam of pure, pale blue light shot from the sphere, striking him between the shoulder blades and enveloping his entire body in an iridescent shimmer. The bright flash brought Sheppard's head around just in time to watch as McKay fell soundlessly, face down to the ground.

Reacting without thought to McKay's collapse, Major Sheppard was at his side in an instant. With a surprising gentleness, Sheppard carefully turned him over onto his back as the creaking from above grew louder and choking grey dust started to fill the air.

"Dr Beckett!" Sheppard's call proved to be unnecessary as he felt the medic manoeuvre him out of the way to gain access to McKay.

Beckett ran expert hands over the fallen man before turning a shocked face to Sheppard.

"He's dead, Major."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

No, this was not happening. Rodney could not be dead. Sheppard stared back at Beckett's stunned face. It didn't work like this. They would pull McKay out and Beckett would perform a miracle; then Rodney would sit up sneezing out dust and complaining about being dragged away from his latest toy.

A further earth tremor shook the room. Severe enough to dislodge larger fragments of rock and debris, the quake brought Sheppard's thoughts back to the immediate danger. A deep metallic groaning from above caused both himself and Beckett to look up to the ceiling in alarm.

Sheppard was the first to react. He lunged towards McKay, calling out to Beckett. "Doctor, help me get Rodney out of here! The ceiling's coming down!" Each with a hand on McKay's shoulder harness, Sheppard and Beckett started for the doorway at a crouched run.

Before they had taken three steps, a final violent shock sent both men sprawling to the ground and the sound of tearing metal filled the room. Sheppard lifted his head to see the huge rusted ceiling support falling towards them. He reached out, grabbing McKay's arm, as the beam fell, but could only watch in horror as it landed squarely across McKay's legs, pinning him to the stone floor.

Ignoring the increasing danger from falling rubble, Sheppard released Rodney's limp arm and started to crawl back towards the heavy metal beam, dust blurring his vision. As he reached out, a large section of the ceiling, now unsupported, crashed to the floor beside him. Beckett's hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and pulled him away, forcing him towards the hazy light of the doorway.

Ford's anxious voice called from the wide exit as the two men emerged, coughing, into the open. Moments later, the remaining metal girders supporting the roof failed under the immense weight of the rock above, crashing down into the cave with a deafening roar. Shielding the two men from the falling wreckage, Lieutenant Ford steered them away from the entrance and watched in concern as they stooped, hands on knees, gulping in fresh, clean air.

Leaving Teyla to tend to the gasping men, Ford returned to look back into the cave as the rumbling died away and a final cloud of dust and debris billowed from the doorway.

"Rodney?" Sheppard's hoarse whisper degenerated into a fit of coughing as he blinked dust-filled eyes. Forcing himself upright he staggered back to the entrance.

Outside the cave, the quake had done little damage and Sheppard was unprepared for the scene of destruction inside. Wreckage filled the room and a tangle of metal ceiling struts criss-crossed the entrance, completely blocking the doorway, leaving only small gaps through which the full extent of the collapse could be seen.

Sheppard started pulling frantically at the debris closest to the door, succeeding only in dislodging a new avalanche of rocks and wreckage which poured through the doorway, causing him to step hastily out of the way. He turned to the rest of the team, "If we can find something to lever up this spar, I think we could get to him."

"Major," Beckett's voice was thick with emotion, and stopped Sheppard in his tracks. "He was dead before the ceiling fell on him! Look at it! It would be suicide to try to get back in there now!"

Sheppard stared into the swirling clouds of dust as a third man ran, stumbling, from the room and stopped beside him, exclaiming in a relieved voice, "Oh thank God. I thought I was going to die in there."

"We can't just leave him in there!" Sheppard's angry shout brought a look of surprise to McKay's face as Beckett turned and gestured wildly at the blocked doorway.

"Look at it Major. It would take a bloody JCB to dig him out!"

"Who? Who are we talking about? Dig who out?" McKay looked in confusion at the two shouting men, but neither of them showed any indication that they had heard his questions. "Carson? Major Sheppard? Am I talking to myse...?"

"Major Sheppard," McKay stopped short, taken aback at Teyla's uncharacteristically rude interruption. He stared at her as she continued speaking. "What has happened? Where is Dr McKay?"

Rodney frowned at the baffling question and responded, with a puzzled look. "What do you mean? I'm right ..."

Again, McKay was abruptly cut off. "Rodney's still in the cave." Sheppard's softly spoken words carried far more passion than his previous angry yells.

Teyla's eyes widened in comprehension. She turned to look at Beckett as if seeking for a different explanation for Sheppard's words. Finding none, she lowered her head in understanding.

Carson nodded sadly. "Aye lass, I'm afraid he's gone."

"Gone? I'm not 'gone'. I'm right here." McKay walked over to Sheppard and stood directly in front of him. "Major?" He raised his hand in front of Sheppard's eyes and clicked his fingers rapidly. "Major? Can you see me?"

Suddenly, Sheppard stepped forward to peer further into the gloomy interior of the cave. Caught by surprise, McKay was too slow to dodge out of his way, but, instead of the clash of shoulders he expected, he felt an unpleasant tingling sensation as the Major walked right through him.

Xx oOo xX

Dr Rodney McKay stared morosely through the doorway and into the cave; silent now, except for the steady drip of water and the occasional creak of settling debris. Rationally, of course, he had always known that one day he would die, that your name went on the waiting list the moment you were born, but he had never truly believed that it would actually happen to him.

McKay felt his anger surge. This had to be a mistake. The universe had got it wrong somehow; failing to appreciate that people needed him, relied on him. There were even some that might simply miss him.

He looked at Sheppard standing beside him, gazing through the door at the devastation beyond, the blood dripping from his hands and arms evidence of his attempts to make his way back into the cave by main force.

This should not have happened.

And not only was he dead, but, apparently, he was a ghost. He couldn't be a ghost, he didn't _believe_ in ghosts.

McKay was unsure of what was meant to happen next. His childhood hadn't been spent sitting around campfires with friends, telling ghost stories. What little knowledge he had of the spirit world was gleaned from TV shows such as 'The Outer Limits' and 'The Twilight Zone'.

So, how did you become a ghost?

First and foremost, you had to be dead...obviously. Well, he seemed to have managed that with his usual lack of grace and style. It wasn't the way he would have chosen to die. A mountain had fallen on him. And that's what everyone would remember, no matter what his achievements had been in life. Not much of an epitaph for his gravestone was it? 'Here lies the body of Dr Rodney McKay. A mountain fell on him.' Only there wouldn't be a gravestone or even a grave. His mortal remains would be here, on an empty planet in another galaxy, far from home.

So much for posterity.

What else did you need to become a ghost? The phrase 'unfinished business' made its way to his consciousness. 'Unfinished business.' That just about summed up his entire life. No wife. No kids. Although, to be honest with himself, he didn't think that that was the sort of 'unfinished business' that a ghost could complete. Unless there had been a couple of 'R' rated episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' that he'd missed.

The sound of voices finally penetrated his shocked brain and he turned from the door and listened to his team.

Carson was explaining to Ford and Teyla that he had already been dead even before the roof had come down.

He couldn't remember that. He _did_ remember trying to find a way to remove the sphere, then Sheppard telling him to leave it. Then he was standing in the room watching Carson push Sheppard through the doorway, as all hell broke loose around them.

"Major Sheppard." Teyla's soft voice again brought him back to their conversation. "Dr Beckett is correct. There is nothing we can do here. We must return to Atlantis and inform Dr Weir of Dr McKay's death."

On the last word, Sheppard's shoulders fell and his head bowed slightly. He stood in silence for several seconds before he straightened his back and spoke in a strangely neutral tone. "You're right. Let's go."

Xx oOo xX

Elizabeth Weir looked across the gateroom as Sheppard led his team and Dr Beckett back through the Stargate. The usual activity in the gateroom was a general background as she walked over to greet them, smiling at the comical sight of Sheppard and Beckett covered in grey dust, their hair and clothing releasing fine clouds as they stepped away from the gate. Her smile turned to a concerned frown as she noticed McKay's absence.

"Major, where's Rodney?" Her frown deepened as Sheppard gave no immediate reply, but instead continued standing before the gate, staring directly ahead. Looking from face to serious face, her concern grew with every second of silence.

No-one remarked when the gate stayed open a few extra seconds, nor as a fifth figure stepped through to Atlantis.

"Carson?" Elizabeth's concern turned rapidly to fear when the physician failed to meet her eyes. When the gate closed behind the team, a gradual drop in conversation ran through the room as the gateroom personnel began to become aware that McKay had not come back with the team.

"John?" Dr Weir returned her attention to the Major, her voice urgent. "Major? What happened?"

She hardly recognised the impersonal voice with which Sheppard answered. "Dr Weir, I regret to inform you that Dr McKay died on M3X-925. His body cannot be safely reached, and I recommend that no attempt be made to recover it."

The gateroom fell into silence and all activity ceased as Sheppard made his dispassionate report.

"My God, John. What happened?" Her voice sounded unnaturally loud in the silent room, but Sheppard showed no signs of hearing and continued to stare unblinkingly ahead.

"It was in the cave they found." Dr Beckett's soft brogue wrenched her eyes from Sheppard's face. "Rodney had found a device and was trying to get it loose to bring it back, when it shot some kind of energy beam at him. He was dead before he hit the ground."

Elizabeth missed the slight twitch of Sheppard's eye at Beckett's words, her mind was too busy refusing to accept what she was hearing.

"We tried to get him out." Carson continued, "But there was an earthquake and the entire roof came down. There was nothing anyone could have done."

The last words were directed at the Major, still standing in silence, but once again he showed no signs of hearing.

Dr Weir looked desperately to the rest of Sheppard's team; searching for an indication that this was all a misunderstanding. Ford stood to attention, taking his lead from Sheppard's own stance. Teyla, her eyes downcast, radiated sorrow. Elizabeth's eyes passed over the final team member as McKay walked across the gateroom to stand in his accustomed position at her side.

"John, I..." Elizabeth's faltering words were cut off as Sheppard's impersonal voice coldly interrupted.

"Dr Weir, if I might be dismissed? There are some things that I have to attend to."

"Of course, John," Elizabeth felt bewildered at his behaviour. "I'll need your debriefing as soon as you feel ready, but you and your team are off active duty for as long as you need."

For the first time since his return to Atlantis, Sheppard looked directly at her. "Why?" he asked, with a frown.

Stunned by the question, Elizabeth took a moment to phrase a reply. "I... I thought that you might want some time to get over this." It was more an imploring question than an answer.

Beside her, Rodney stared at Sheppard in hurt confusion.

"Dr McKay isn't the first team member I've ever lost." Major Sheppard again turned his face away and stared straight ahead. "Just give me a couple of days to find a replacement." Without waiting for further permission, Sheppard walked out past stunned personnel, the silence remaining until he had left the gateroom.

A Marine at the top of the gateroom staircase slowly shook his head and turned to whisper to the scientist by his side. "_And I thought that McKay was an insensitive bastard_." The whispered remark barely reached Elizabeth's ears but she turned, her eyes flashing in anger, to see who had made it.

"Easy, Elizabeth." Carson had obviously heard it too, but his voice remained calm and quiet. "Grief takes people in different ways. We're all going to need a little time."

Xx oOo xX

Sheppard walked slowly into the long room that had been set up as a firing range and carefully placed three P-90 magazines on the low table in front of him.

Behind him, a second, unseen figure entered through the door. McKay was unsure why he was following Sheppard; his words in the gateroom had hurt like a physical blow and now he felt lost and alone in the huge city. There was nothing for him to be doing, nothing he could do, so he followed Sheppard.

"Come for some target practice, Sir?" The Range Officer, a young Sergeant, looked over from his own table and nodded respectfully at the Major who was checking over his P-90 and loading the first magazine.

"Yeah, something like that. Set me one up." Sheppard's attitude told the Sergeant more clearly than words that he was not in a talkative mood.

A standard, human-shaped target rose from the floor in front of Sheppard. The first short burst hit with controlled accuracy. Then a longer, more concentrated volley ripped the centre from the target. The Range Officer watched as Sheppard emptied the first magazine into the shape.

The P-90 fell silent and the young Sergeant got ready to set up a second target. "Sir, shall I ...?"

Sheppard had already reloaded and began to fire down the range. The target had long since been completely obliterated, but the sound of automatic fire continued to fill the room. As more shots left the weapon, McKay looked up at Sheppard's face. He could see Sheppard shouting as he fired, but the thunder of the P-90 drowned out the words. Suddenly the magazine emptied and, as the sound of the last shots died away, Rodney heard Sheppard's final anguished cry.

"...stupid Canadian _**son-of-a-bitch!**"_

"Sir?" The Range Officer sounded unsure of what he had just seen and heard.

Sheppard rounded on him, his eyes blazing. "Something wrong, Sergeant?"

McKay could see the pain and anger in Sheppard's eyes. The Sergeant saw only the anger.

"Sir, no Sir!" He stood to attention. "It's just...no, nothing Sir. Good shooting Sir!"

Sheppard turned back to the table and reached for the third magazine, his face once more blank.

"Major, stop! This isn't doing you any good." McKay unthinkingly reached out to restrain Sheppard's arm, then looked down at his hand in surprise as he felt a slight resistance.

He raised his eyes to see Sheppard staring at him with a puzzled frown.

"Rodney?"


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

"Rodney?" Sheppard froze in the act of reaching for the final magazine, the gentle pressure of a hand on his arm sending a chill through his body. He frowned, confused, at the familiar figure standing before him. A figure that could not possibly be there. Not daring to break eye contact, he slowly placed the empty P-90 on the low table and reached out his hand towards McKay.

"Sir, who are you...?" Sheppard's eyes flicked across at the Sergeant, silencing him with a glare, before returning to the empty space where McKay had been.

_"Rodney!"_ Sheppard's sense of loss was a physical pain, overwhelming the anger and sorrow that had consumed him only moments before. His eyes darted frantically around the room, desperately searching, before settling back on the startled Range Officer. "Did you see him?" The Major demanded.

A look of alarm flashed across the Sergeant's face as he scanned the room for a possible intruder.

As Sheppard's racing heartbeat slowed, doubt began to seize him. "Did you just see Dr McKay, standing here?" He asked, more calmly. The Sergeant shook his head uneasily in reply.

Was it possible that he had just imagined the vision of McKay? For that one brief moment, it had seemed so real. Rodney had been as solid as the Sergeant, but now, only seconds later, Sheppard was not sure that it had been anything more than a trick of his distraught mind. An hallucination brought on by stress or delayed shock. Or guilt.

He had let a man die. Not just a man, but a friend who had trusted him. No matter that there really _had_ been nothing he could have done; Beckett was right on that point, but that didn't mean that he could deny the responsibility. Each time he led his team through the gate, he accepted their protection as his duty. A duty in which he had failed.

Sheppard's hand fell unbidden to rest on his arm, his thumb absently stroking the sleeve where McKay's hand had laid. His mind in turmoil, he walked from the room.

Xx oOo xX

Rodney McKay opened dust filled eyes as a wordless scream ripped from his throat. The searing agony in his legs tore through his body and made all thought impossible. Gasping for breath through the pain, his eyes darted around the room where he lay. He was back in the cave; a misty light filtering in through the rubble filled doorway. Peering down the length of his body he could see the massive shape of the metal beam that pinned him securely to the ground. Already drenched in sweat, he allowed his head to drop back to the floor and gazed upward, his eyes wide with panic. Two feet above him, a metal sphere sparked and flashed as a slow, steady trickle of water dripped from it onto the ground beside his head.

And then he was standing upright, the pain gone as abruptly as it had arrived. He looked down on his own body, lying on the stone floor. Sweat had left zigzagged tracks through the grey dust that masked his face and plastered his hair to his head in a skull cap. He knelt and searched for signs of life. Nothing. Not a hint of a breath or even the throb of a pulse disturbed the fine dust that covered him like a shroud.

McKay tore his eyes away from his corpse and looked around the room. The scene was one of near total devastation, torn and twisted wreckage filled the cave, but, miraculously, this one small area had survived the roof-fall virtually unscathed. Aside from the girder across his legs, his body was almost untouched by the falling debris. As he rose to his feet a flashing light caught his eye and he turned to consider the metal sphere, still intact and still attached to the raised platform in the centre of the room. He reached out cautiously to touch its smooth surface, but pulled back as his hand passed through the outer shell with an unpleasant tingle. Intrigued, he studied the device more thoroughly. Of the five small lights arranged in a pentagon on its upper half, four were now lit; the fifth flashing steadily on and off. As he leaned forward for a closer look, a bright spark discharged from the metal surface.

And again he was back in his body. This time the pain lasted only an instant. Just long enough to open his mouth to cry out when it ended. Then once more he stood, confused, beside the platform.

What was he doing back here on M3X-925? The last thing he remembered was standing in front of Sheppard in the firing range on Atlantis, looking into Sheppard's eyes and seeing recognition there. The Major had been aware of him, McKay was sure of that, but at the moment of contact he had been pulled away, back to his own dead body.

That couldn't be right. The pain alone was more than enough to convince him that when he woke, his body had not been dead. McKay knelt again; a thin thread of fresh blood had trickled from a small cut high on his cheek, bright red in the hazy light but already starting to congeal. So when he had woken up, his body had somehow been revived, albeit briefly.

A myriad of possibilities flashed through his racing mind, before his eyes settled again on the sphere. The sphere, which, according to Beckett, had emitted the beam that killed him. The smooth metal casing gave no clue to its function and McKay cast his eyes around the room until he spotted a second device, the outer shell broken, exposing an intricate mechanism inside.

Now, his difficulty lay in reaching the second sphere. There was just no way he could squirm through the wreckage; the rubble and metal completely blocked his path. He looked around for another route, then, grimacing at his own stupidity, he gritted his teeth against the pins and needles, and stepped gingerly _through_ the debris.

The second sphere lay close to the doorway, and the light that filtered through shone onto the twisted metal components within. This was much more than a mere weapon, that was obvious, and whatever it had done to him appeared to be reversible. He had woken, in agony and trapped under maybe a ton of girder, but alive. Despite the seriousness of his situation, McKay grinned broadly. He wasn't dead, he wasn't a ghost, and, if this was purely a mechanical problem, he could solve it. Settling down in front of the device, McKay began his careful examination.

Xx oOo xX

"Among my people, it is not uncommon for a friend to be taken from us and their body never to be recovered. Sometimes it is difficult to accept that they are truly gone."

"Among my people too, Teyla."

John Sheppard sat at the end of Teyla's bed and gazed into the flickering light of a candle flame, the only illumination in the Athosian's darkened room.

"But this is different," he continued quietly. "I _saw_ McKay's body; there's no doubt in my mind that he was dead even before the cave-in. And I know that no one could have survived in that cave when the ceiling collapsed. If there was any hope that he was still alive, I would be there now, trying to get him out."

"And yet you say that you now feel he is not dead? That you have seen him here, in Atlantis?"

Sheppard closed his eyes and watched the image of the candle flame still burning brightly in his mind.

"Yes...No. I..." He couldn't describe what had happened at the firing range; not even to himself. McKay had been standing before him, just for an instant, with a look of infinite sadness and pity in his eyes. And then he had... not _gone_, but never been there.

The image of the flame faded to blackness and Sheppard opened his eyes.

"I don't know what I saw, Teyla." Sheppard admitted quietly. He had hoped that talking about his experience would somehow ease the feeling of loss, but it still burned within him, leaving him sure of only one thing. "I'm going back to the planet. I need to see it again for myself."

Decision made, he stood and walked to the door. Teyla's gentle hand touched his arm and he turned his head.

"And I am coming with you, John."

Xx oOo xX

Elizabeth Weir sat in the goldfish bowl that was her office and stared into infinity. Finally dragging red-rimmed eyes back to the topmost paper in the pile that covered her desk, she tried to read the first line but her eyes refused to focus.

Focus. How often had she ordered him to do that when his mind or his mouth had sprinted off in an inappropriate direction? And how often had that mind been the only thing between the people of Atlantis and disaster? Life was going to be a lot harder now. Hardest of all for those who had known him best.

Her eyes drifted away from the unread papers.

"Elizabeth?"

She realised that someone was speaking her name. Bringing her gaze back from infinity, she looked up at Sheppard, standing in her doorway.

"Elizabeth, I want to go back to M3X-925."

No longer the distant stranger that had returned from the planet, Sheppard's face now showed the emotions that she knew were reflected on her own. She studied him as he stood at the door, still in the field gear that he had been wearing when he came back through the gate. He hadn't even run a comb through his hair and the grey of the dust added twenty years to his age.

"Elizabeth?"

"I'm sorry, John." She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes. "I thought you said that there was no point in going back. That Rodney's...", her voice caught in her throat, "That Rodney was unreachable."

"I know what I said, Elizabeth," Sheppard's voice was now thick with the emotions that he had denied before. "And I was wrong. I want to go back and see the place again. I know we're missing something."

Elizabeth felt that she understood his need to return. She wanted to go with him. See the place for herself, but she wasn't sure if it would do more harm than good. Going there wouldn't change what had happened and she didn't want a desolate planet to be her last memory of Rodney.

"Elizabeth?" Now there was concern in his voice; concern for her, and that was not something she wanted.

"Of course, John. Go." Her voice sounded distant, even to herself, and by the time that Sheppard had turned and walked from the doorway, her eyes had already returned to staring at infinity.

Xx oOo xX

McKay stood in front of the Stargate and raged at the universe. Twice more he had woken, crying out in agony, wondering if this time he would be trapped forever beneath the beam, but both times he had found himself standing beside the platform moments later. He knew that he could figure out what had happened to him if he could only study the spheres' contents in detail, but to do that he needed to disassemble one systematically and that was something he couldn't do in his present form. His frustration had finally led him back to the gate, but,

again, nothing he could think of would allow him to activate the DHD. Each time he tried to press a glyph, his hand passed through with the same weird tingle.

Suddenly, the Stargate before him sprang into life. In alarm, he ducked behind the DHD, fearing a Wraith dart, before realising that, if nothing else, he was safe from that particular danger.

A huge grin split his face as the first figure emerged through the gate.

"Major Sheppard! Am I glad to see you! I thought I'd be stuck here forever." His grin evaporated as he realised that 'forever' might mean just that, or at least until whatever powered his sphere ran out of energy.

Close behind Sheppard, Teyla stepped away from the gate and stood aside as a third uniformed figure appeared through the event horizon. McKay's broad smile returned and relief flooded through him as he recognised the man as a Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers. Sheppard had returned to plan a rescue.

McKay walked excitedly alongside Sheppard as they made their way to the cliff face, enthusiastically keeping up a one sided conversation.

"Major?" McKay looked in vain for a reaction, a flicker of recognition in Sheppard's face. "Look at me, Sheppard; I know you saw me before." He grabbed at Sheppard's arm, but his hand passed through without the least resistance. "C'mon, Major, you're just not trying." Despite his delight at their return, it was maddening to be so close to his team-mates and not to be able to communicate with them.

As they neared the cave Sheppard slowed his pace. From his pocket he took a hand-held lifesigns-detector and pointed it towards the doorway. Looking over his shoulder McKay willed the ancient device to distinguish between death and stasis; to display the tiny point of light that would alert Sheppard that he was indeed still alive. But his heart sank as only three little dots blinked back at him from the screen.

Sheppard turned to the Engineer and asked simply. "Is it possible?"

The British Officer gave the cave an evaluating look and shook his head dubiously. "It's possible, Sir." He looked up and scanned the cliff face appraisingly. "It would take a lot of equipment and a lot of men, but it's…" He hesitated, plainly searching for the right word, before settling on... "…_possible."_

Sheppard followed his gaze as a minor tremor shook the ground. From high above, a small section of the cliff broke away and the Engineer stepped smartly back to avoid a shower of rubble. When Sheppard spoke, his voice was soft. "But is it advisable?" The question was rhetorical, but the Engineer replied frankly.

"That's your decision, Sir."

Sheppard turned to look at Teyla, who answered his unspoken question. "The lifesigns-detector tells you that he is gone. What does your heart tell you, John?"

"This is no time to go all rational on me, Major." Powerless to influence the Major, McKay knew that his chance of rescue now lay in the balance.

As McKay watched, Sheppard's head dropped and he gave a heavy sigh.

"It tells me the same, Teyla; that there's nothing here. Let's go home." Sheppard took a last look through the doorway. "Goodbye, Rodney."

McKay followed them back towards the Stargate in silence, and in silence Sheppard began to dial home.

McKay woke in the cave. This time he let his scream of agony have full rein. "Major! Teyla!" How far was it to the Stargate? One hundred, one hundred and fifty yards? Surely they must have heard him. "Major!" He stopped and strained against the silence for the sound of their return. Nothing. By now, Sheppard would have finished dialling and once they were gone they would never come back.

His radio. Even if they had already passed through the gate, they might still hear his radio. Lifting his hand to activate his headset, he almost sobbed to find it gone; dislodged when he fell to the ground. There wasn't time to regret the loss, there had to be another way to signal to his team-mates.

His hand scrabbled for his 9mm. If he could fire off a shot... His sudden movement sent fresh waves of pain through his legs and his vision began to dim. He couldn't afford to pass out now. As slowly as he dared, he reached over to his holster and drew the hand gun. The shot might bring the rest of the ceiling down, but it was a risk he was prepared to take. Pulling the weapon clear he chambered a round and aimed it away from his body.

He was standing next to the sphere. "No! No no no!" It was as if the device was playing with him. He aimed a savage kick at the sphere, which passed harmlessly through it, and then ran for the doorway and towards the Stargate, heedless of everything in his way, praying that he could still get there before the gate shut down.

Xx oOo xX

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

As he stepped up to follow the British Lieutenant through the gate, Sheppard paused and frowned. Puzzled, he turned to Teyla at his side, and asked. "Did you just hear someone shouting?"

Teyla listened, but shook her head as her sharp ears heard nothing more than the natural sounds around her. "No, Major."

Suddenly Sheppard set off at a run back towards the cave. As he reached the mouth he stopped and flicked on the flashlight of his P-90. Shining the light through the entrance, he manoeuvred the weapon to penetrate between the layers of debris. As Teyla arrived behind him he called into the wreckage. "McKay? Rodney?"

Unseen, Rodney burst from the cave and skidded to a halt beside them.

Nothing moved inside the room, but, in the flashlight's beam, the glint of metal on the floor near the entrance caught Sheppard's eye.

"Teyla, shine a light over here."

Teyla stepped up to the entrance as Sheppard cautiously squirmed through the wreckage and into the cave.

"Careful, Major!" Teyla kept the light steady as she watched Sheppard inch his way forward. He had made hardly any headway into the room when a cracking sound from above caused him to freeze and a shower of small debris fell around him.

"It's no use, Teyla, I can't get any further in." Twisting his body, Sheppard managed to snag the metal object with his foot and pull it towards himself. Picking it up, he backtracked his way to the entrance.

Teyla stepped aside to allow him out through the doorway and looked down at the device in his hands, "What have you found, Major?"

"It's one of those spheres that hit Rodney." Sheppard turned the broken object over in his hands. "Looks like most of it is here. Maybe Zelenka can work out what it did."

Xx oOo xX

"No no no no no. Radek, put that down. It's the piece to the left that's important."

McKay watched with rising frustration as Dr Zelenka worked his way through the broken device. As soon as Zelenka had started to dismantle the sphere, McKay had realised why he had found it so familiar. It showed remarkable similarities with Wraith technology that they had studied, although with several subtle differences, as though someone had taken a Wraith device and adapted it to suit their own requirements. It separated the mind from the body, that much he had figured out back on the planet, but it appeared that the mind was intended to be stored in the sphere rather than lead an independent existence. Meanwhile, the body was put into stasis until the mind was restored. It would explain not only what had happened to him, but how the Wraith could hibernate for centuries and why they didn't trigger a lifesigns detector. McKay didn't know why the mind needed to be kept separate - possibly there was some difficulty with reviving a body with the mind inside - but it was actually quite an elegant solution to a problem.

"Dr Zelenka, I need you over here." McKay and Zelenka both looked up as a tall, pony-tailed man walked arrogantly into Zelenka's lab.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Kavanagh." McKay couldn't contain an indignant outburst. "Who died and made you the boss?" Oh, right. McKay saw that the power plays to be the next chief scientist had begun, and, although Kavanagh would have been McKay's _last_ choice, he might believe that, if he took control now, he would get the position by default. Not that Elizabeth would allow that to happen. She would give the job to Zelenka but Kavanagh was too egotistic to see that.

"I'm sorry, Dr Kavanagh, but I am working on something for Major Sheppard." Zelenka did little to disguise his irritation at the interruption, nor his dislike for the man who had invaded his lab.

"What's that?" Kavanagh walked over to the bench and picked up one of the fragments of the sphere. "You're working on that device from M3X-925? What's the point? It's not like we're ever going back there. The only thing of interest on the whole planet was that cave, and, thanks to McKay, it's now buried under half a mountainside."

Zelenka, non too gently, took the fragment from Kavanagh's hands, his eyes flashing with annoyance. "Major Sheppard wants to know exactly what happened there."

"We _know_ what happened." Kavanagh stepped back and folded his arms across his chest haughtily. "McKay touched something he didn't understand and it killed him. _That's _what happened. Now, I'm just as sorry about that as you are," Zelenka and McKay snorted in unison at the blatant lie, "but wasting your time trying to find a way that this _wasn't_ McKay's own fault isn't going to help save the rest of us from the Wraith."

"I'm sorry, Dr Kavanagh, but I have work to do." Contemptuously turning his back on the taller man, Zelenka replaced the sphere fragment on his bench. "Now, if you would like to explain to Major Sheppard why you are preventing me from doing it, please be my guest."

"Enjoy it while you can, _doctor_." Kavanagh made the title sound almost like an insult. "With McKay gone, there are likely to be a few changes around here." With that, Kavanagh stalked from Zelenka's lab and into the corridor.

McKay thought that he recognised most of Zelenka's muttered Czech words as ones that had been directed at his own back on occasion; but the venom with which they were delivered added a whole new dimension. He smirked at the departing Kavanagh. "Well said, Radek, I couldn't have put it better myself."

Zelenka and McKay turned their attentions back to the fragments on the bench in front of them. Unheard, McKay sighed in exasperation. "No, Radek. The piece on the left." Moments later, without realising it, Zelenka was even more alone in his lab.

Xx oOo xX

Seated in his office, Carson Beckett closed his files and logged off from his laptop. He had been almost glad of the flurry of minor accidents that had occurred since his return from M3X-925. They had managed to keep him occupied, kept his mind on his job of healing the injured, curing the sick and postponing the inevitable for as long as possible.

He had just finished writing up his case-notes for the most serious injury (a couple of cracked ribs, the result of an over-enthusiastic self-defence class run by Sgt Bates) before getting ready to hand over his shift to Dr Singh and return to his own quarters. Not that he was ever really off duty, but he knew that today there would be an unspoken agreement among his staff that he was not to be disturbed, for any reason.

He glanced across at the bottle on his desk. The only other person who knew ... who had known about it, was Rodney, who had seen it when Beckett had been searching his desk drawers for something a couple of months back. Rodney had feigned shock at the discovery, but had promised, with a grin, not to tell anyone else on the understanding that Beckett shared it with him alone when they finally found a ZPM. It wasn't that alcohol was actually banned on Atlantis, but a bottle of 15 year old Glenmorangie would have found a lot of takers when it was eventually broached.

Picking up the bottle almost reverently Beckett made for the door, and walked straight into Sheppard who had entered unnoticed.

"Carson, do you have a minute?" Sheppard's voice was gentle but firm and Beckett felt a flash of irritation at the resolute look on the other man's face. He had heard of Sheppard's apparent claim to have seen Rodney on Atlantis, and his subsequent return to the planet. Bloody hell, the man was a terrier. Didn't he know when it was time to let go?

"Actually, Major," he began archly, then felt the heavy weight of the bottle in his hand. Was his way of dealing with this any better than Sheppard's? Probably not.

"To tell the truth," He continued in a softer voice. "I was just away to my room with a bottle of whisky to get ratted." He smiled sadly at Sheppard's raised eyebrow. "You're welcome to join me. Unless you had something else in mind?"

"Thanks, but I'll pass this time." Sheppard smiled back. "Dr Zelenka thinks that he has found something. Care to listen in?"

Intrigued, Dr Beckett replaced the malt in his bottom drawer and closed it carefully before following Sheppard from the room.

Xx oOo xX

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

Sheppard and Beckett perched on high lab stools as they listened attentively to Zelenka's explanation of his findings. The scientist had locked himself up in his lab all day, working on the delicate disassembly and examination of the broken sphere. A few hours earlier Sheppard had been forced to deal with an indignant Dr Kavanagh, demanding that Zelenka be pulled off his 'fool's errand' and be allowed to return to more 'constructive' work; since then Zelenka had refused to allow anyone to disturb him. The Major wasn't sure what had occurred between the two scientists, but he had left Kavanagh in no doubt exactly what he could do with his demand.

"I don't pretend that I understand precisely how it works, Major." Zelenka began. "But the key to it all appears to be this piece here." He held up a large metal fragment, identical, in Sheppard's eyes, to all of the other twisted lumps of metal that made up the mechanism of the sphere. "From what I can tell, it is designed to store the essence – the…the _mind_ - of a person, separate from the physical body, while placing the body itself in a form of suspended animation. When the other sphere emitted the beam of light that hit Rodney, his mind should have transferred to the corresponding component." He turned the fragment over in his hand, giving it a thoughtful look.

"And his body would have appeared dead?" Sheppard leaned eagerly forward, intent on Zelenka's answer.

"No, Major, it would have_ 'been' _dead. No lifesigns, no brain activity, nothing." Zelenka replaced the fragment on his bench and turned to a laptop, bringing up a screenful of technical data. "If I understand this correctly then the..."

Sheppard could not contain his impatience. "Bottom-line, Doctor. Can we get him back?"

Without looking up from the screen, Zelenka absently shook his head and Sheppard felt his chest tighten. He closed his eyes against the sudden pain, asking bleakly. "Are you sure?"

Zelenka started in surprise at Sheppard's tone and looked up sharply; distress crossing his face as he realised that Sheppard had misunderstood him. "Ah, I'm sorry, Major. No, that's not what I meant. I meant that _that_ is the bit I am uncertain about." Visibly flustered at the anguish he'd caused, Zelenka continued. "When the Wraith wake from hibernation, their bodies and minds are restored. But how they achieve it ...?" He shrugged apologetically.

As relief flooded through him, it took Sheppard a moment to take in Zelenka's words and he frowned, thrown by the apparent non sequitur. "But the people in the cave weren't Wraith."

"Ah, no, but the sphere is; or at least is derived from Wraith technology." Back on firmer ground Zelenka relaxed and gestured towards the incomprehensible gibberish on his laptop screen. "As you can see, Major, it would appear that someone has adapted a Wraith hibernation device to suit human physiology so that when..."

Sheppard's stood, bringing Zelenka to an abrupt halt. "Thanks, Doc. But the point is that McKay might still be alive down there."

"Major, wait." Dr Beckett spoke for the first time since Zelenka began his explanations. His voice was soft and held no trace of the excitement that filled Sheppard's. "Just think about this for a minute. I understand that there is a possibility that whatever the sphere did, it didn't actually kill Rodney, and, believe me, I want to get him back as much as you do, but you saw that cave; no one could have survived that rockfall. Now I don't know what's left in there, Major, but I doubt it would be capable of sustaining life."

"We won't know until we look." Sheppard appreciated the Medic's doubts, but his own determination now burned inside him like a fire. He locked eyes with Beckett and held his gaze steady until the doctor looked away. "Zelenka - find out how to reverse this. Beckett - you're with me."

Xx oOo xX

Rodney knew that he was staying awake longer and longer each time now. This last time had been the longest; it was difficult to tell, but certainly many minutes, possibly an hour. And then the pain had ended and he stood again beside the sphere. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. Each time the agony hit as hard as the first, and each time he wondered if it would ever end. Looking down on his body he could see where his hands had clawed into the dust and debris, breaking nails and drawing blood. Wearily, he turned away and started the familiar walk back to the Stargate to begin his lonely wait.

Less than fifty yards from the cave and he was back, awake, too exhausted this time to cry out in pain. His scrabbling hand closed on something cool. Instinctively his fingers curled around the grip of his 9mm. Well, that gave him another option. He wasn't there yet, but at least he wouldn't die of hunger or thirst.

He opened eyes that he hadn't realised were closed. He'd blacked out but something had woken him.

"McKay?" Sheppard's shout echoed through the cave.

"Major?" He knew that no one outside could have heard his mumbled reply but he was too tired to shout. He vaguely remembered the weapon in his hand, and, with an effort of will, forced himself to pull the trigger.

The sound of the shot jolted him fully awake, his heart beating wildly. As the ringing in his ears died away, he held his breath for a moment and listened. Had he just heard Major Sheppard call his name or was his confused mind mistaking dreams for reality? Suddenly the room grew darker. Drifting back towards unconsciousness it took a moment for McKay to realise that someone was standing in the doorway, blocking the hazy light.

"Rodney! Hang on. We're coming to get you." At Sheppard's cry, Rodney lifted his head and a wave of nausea swept through him. He tried to call out, but the effort was simply too much. Letting his head fall back onto the cool stone floor he allowed the darkness to reclaim him.

Xx oOo xX

Sheppard stared in disbelief at the lifesigns-detector in his hand. He had scanned the cave through force of habit as soon as he and Beckett had arrived, ahead of the team of Engineers, but the unexpected point of light had left him dumbfounded. It contradicted everything that Zelenka had said.

"Rodney?" Sheppard called hesitantly through the rubble-filled doorway then stood motionless, straining against the silence but hearing nothing but the steady drip of water. "McKay?" He shouted louder, leaning into the cave as far as the debris would allow.

A shot rang out and Sheppard threw himself back from the doorway as Beckett looked to him in alarm. The two men exchanged startled glances before Sheppard leapt back to the doorway in excitement.

"Rodney! Hang on. We're coming to get you."

Xx oOo xX

The task of clearing a safe path to McKay was taking longer than Sheppard had hoped. Men and equipment had taken an eternity to arrive and the slow progress was wearing at his nerves. He stood as close to the cave entrance as the machinery would allow, constantly monitoring the lifesigns-detector, watching the tiny flashing light that declared that, against all probability, McKay was alive.

"Major?" Sheppard turned his head at Beckett's call, taking a moment to locate the Doctor among the busy crowd of Engineers. He waved to Beckett to join him, unwilling to leave his position near the doorway, then checked the lifesigns-detector in his hand again.

The light that was Rodney had vanished. Sheppard froze, his mouth suddenly dry as he stared at the ancient device in horror. The screen was alive with overlapping blips, covering the area outside the cave, but the only one that mattered had suddenly disappeared.

"What's wrong, Major?" Beckett's voice at his shoulder was full of concern and Sheppard looked up into anxious eyes.

"He's gone." The despair in Sheppard's voice was tangible. He'd thought Rodney lost and then been given hope, and now to have come so close to a rescue and to have lost him again was more than he could stand. His eyes fell back down to the device in his hand.

Beckett reached out and placed a hand on Sheppard's arm. "John?" He waited patiently until Sheppard looked up again. "John, think for a moment. Dr Zelenka could still be right, just because there're no lifesigns doesn't mean we should give up now. Come on, Major, you know that."

Sheppard turned to face the cave entrance, the hope that had driven him this far now exhausted.

Xx oOo xX

As Beckett spoke, a weary figure emerged from the cave and came to a halt beside the two men. Looking from Sheppard to Beckett, Rodney took in the lines of stress and exhaustion that marked both faces, before gazing around in amazement at the men and machines that filled the small clearing in front of the cliff face. Sheppard really had returned prepared for a rescue; he must have mobilised virtually every piece of Engineering equipment on Atlantis. Rodney grinned to himself. He knew that the Major 'didn't leave people behind', and that rescuing such a valuable member of the Atlantis team would be important, but this seemed more personal than that. He looked back at Sheppard, his grin fading at the uncharacteristic despair in Sheppard's eyes.

"Major Sheppard!" The call came from the Royal Engineer who had accompanied Sheppard back to the planet earlier and was now walking towards them with a grave look on his face. "Sir, Doctor." The Engineer nodded politely to Beckett; "We're through to Dr McKay." He paused before continuing. "Other than damage to his legs caused by the ceiling joist, which we have now removed, he seems relatively uninjured." He stopped again, as though expecting a response from the Major, but, receiving none, he continued. "I'm afraid that Dr McKay shows no signs of life, Sir, but, if you want to go in the way is now clear."

As the British Lieutenant spoke, Rodney watched Sheppard's face. The dull despair began to fade to be replaced with cautious hope, although Rodney could see that the Major's reserves of determination were starting to run dangerously low. Straightening his back and taking a long, deep breath, Sheppard finally nodded in acknowledgement to the Engineer.

"Major? Major Sheppard!" This time it was a young woman's voice calling for Sheppard's attention. Rodney recognised the woman a member of Zelenka's team; a capable scientist with a flair for problem solving. He smiled in approval at Zelenka's choice.

"Major Sheppard," She spoke with a light German accent, her speech rapid with enthusiasm. "I have just been in contact with Dr Zelenka, and he believes that he had discovered a way to deactivate the sphere." Without waiting for a reaction from the Major she continued, "He has downloaded the necessary information to my laptop, so if you are ready..." Her voice trailed away as she finally noticed the eager look on Sheppard's face.

"Follow me." Sheppard turned back to the cave entrance and stepped inside. From the doorway the narrow excavation weaved its way through the wreckage and Sheppard led the young scientist into the dark passageway towards McKay.

Following behind, Rodney heard a sharp intake of breath and, stepping up to stand beside Sheppard, looked down on his own body once again. This time, though, he saw himself with Sheppard's eyes.

There could be no doubt that he was looking at a corpse. A new layer of thick dust, stirred up by the Engineers' equipment, covered him from head to foot, undisturbed in the total stillness of death.

A noise from behind him made Rodney turn his head. Dr Beckett was making his careful way towards them through the debris. As he reached them and knelt beside the body, the Doctor's eyes were drawn to the damage left by the massive metal beam that had fallen across McKay's legs.

"If this works, Major, we've got to get him back to the infirmary ASAP." Beckett spoke without lifting his head while he began to assemble his medical equipment, his tone making Rodney wince in trepidation.

From beside the platform the chirping of a radio dragged Rodney's attention back to the young scientist. She knelt beside the sphere, the outer casing already in pieces at her side and her laptop attached by a network of wires to the complex mechanism within. She responded to the radio, following what Rodney assumed were Zelenka's instructions and seconds later a pencil-thin beam of pale blue light shot from the sphere, striking McKay's body and encasing it with a shimmering glow.

Behind Sheppard, Rodney closed his eyes and surreptitiously crossed his fingers. "Please work." He whispered.

"I've got a pulse!" Beckett's jubilant cry reached the doorway, giving rise to a hubbub of voices outside.

Rodney cautiously opened his eyes. He was still standing behind Sheppard, looking down onto his own body. He swallowed the hard lump that formed in his throat.

It hadn't worked.

"Pulse is getting stronger." Beckett's excited voice drew a wide grin from Sheppard, but, to Rodney, it seemed only to mock. "All vitals are stabilising." Beckett continued more calmly as he took an Ancient medical device from his bag and scanned McKay's body. A moment later his face fell. "Major, I'm not reading any brain activity."

Sheppard looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"

"His body has been revived, but there's no sign that his mind has been restored." Beckett quickly tapped on the Ancient device, shaking his head in frustration.

"Dr Zelenka!" Sheppard shouted into his radio, an edge of panic in his voice. "It didn't …."

Rodney opened his eyes and cried out in agony. He was awake, looking up at Sheppard and Beckett; their shocked faces staring back down at him. Taking a ragged, dust-filled breath he forced his eyes to focus on the Major's and his mouth formed a silent, "Thank you."

"Rodney!" McKay could see delight and concern spreading across Sheppard's face as he knelt down and gently laid a hand on Rodney's shoulder. The warm touch sent a shiver through McKay; the first human contact he had felt since the slight resistance of his hand on Sheppard's arm in the firing range cut through the pain and left him almost weeping with relief.

"Out of my way, Major." Sheppard readily stepped back as Beckett took control, calling orders to his medical team outside while preparing a hypodermic, but Rodney desperately raised his hand, unwilling to lose Sheppard's reassuring touch and Beckett manoeuvred himself to allow the Major to kneel at Rodney's side.

Then time passed as if in a dream while McKay watched the activity around him. Whatever Beckett had given him had dulled the pain and filled his head with a warm, comforting fog. He lay quietly as Beckett immobilised his legs, listening with detached indifference as the Doctor explained to a concerned Sheppard that, in addition to the obvious broken bones, the wounds had become infected and it was critical that they get him back to Atlantis without delay.

Rodney let the warm fog engulf him; drifting in and out of consciousness as Beckett and his team transferred him to a stretcher and carefully removed him from the cave. As they emerged into the bright sunlight he woke; Sheppard was at his side, a steadying hand resting on his shoulder. Finally he closed his eyes and relaxed, safe in the knowledge that next time he woke he would be home.

Xx oOo xX

TBC - Just the Epilogue to go.


	6. Chapter 6

Epilogue

"Just get him out of here, Major, and don't bring him back until he's able to behave himself." Sheppard raised an eyebrow at Beckett's exasperated outburst and stifled a grin. Beckett himself was smiling broadly behind McKay's back as the physicist sat grumpily in a wheelchair and tried unsuccessfully to scratch at his left leg through a cast.

"Rodney! Leave it!" If Sheppard hadn't known better he would have been seriously alarmed by Beckett's angry shout but he was fully aware that it was relief and not anger that coloured the Doctor's words. Sheppard had been present throughout the first few days that Rodney had lain in the infirmary, hardly moving, as the infection that started in his legs had raged through his body. Neither Sheppard nor Beckett had slept much during that time, one or both of them remaining constantly at McKay's side, until Beckett had cautiously declared him out of danger. For several days after that McKay had been uncharacteristically quiet, submitting to a barrage of tests without a murmur and barely responding to his concerned visitors. But, gradually, he had returned to his annoying self and for the last few days had been making the infirmary staff's lives a misery with his constant demands for attention.

"OK, Doc." Sheppard stepped behind the wheelchair and started to push Rodney towards the door. "I promise to have him back by bedtime." A nearby medic failed to contain a snort of amusement, producing an indignant growl from McKay.

"Don't treat me like a child, Major." Sheppard felt that Rodney's words would have carried more weight if he hadn't still been trying to scratch through his cast.

"Then stop behaving like one." Resisting the urge to ruffle Rodney's hair, Sheppard continued to push him out into the corridor and away from the infirmary. "Where to?" He asked as soon as they were clear of the room.

Rodney considered the question for a moment. "First stop, coffee - then take me to Zelenka."

Xx oOo xX

"Careful, Major!" Rodney hastily held the mug of steaming coffee at arms length as it threatened to spill its contents into his lap.

"Well, if you'd waited until we got here before you tried to drink it..."

Zelenka looked up from his bench as McKay and Sheppard appeared at his door. He had heard the two men bickering for quite a distance before they had finally arrived and had used the time to arrange a selection of items on his workbench.

"Rodney. It's good to see you out and about. You are feeling better now I trust?" Zelenka flashed McKay a quick smile as Sheppard rolled his eyes behind Rodney's back. Zelenka had been genuinely pleased to see the recent improvement in Rodney's health but was well aware that soon everyone was going to suffer from his enforced immobility.

"Oh, yeah, I'm just fine." Rodney's voice dripped sarcasm. "I'm stuck in this thing until my cast comes off," He smacked his hand into the armrest of his wheelchair, sending another small tidal-wave through his coffee, "But other than that…"

Zelenka let the tirade pass and casually stepped away from his bench, revealing the two dismantled spheres that lay on it. Instantly Rodney's face lit up with interest, his complaints forgotten.

"What have you got?" McKay leaned avidly forward, his eyes darting over the metal objects.

Zelenka pulled up a stool and sat next to McKay. "Working with what you have already told me, I think I know what happened." He looked up at Rodney's keen expression. "As you know, the spheres are basically storage devices - active matrix memory modules - keeping the mind safe while shutting down the body."

"Yes, yes." McKay cut in impatiently. "Get to the good part."

Zelenka caught Sheppard's eye and grinned; the Major was obviously enjoying watching McKay's enthusiasm.

"I believe that 'your' sphere had developed a fault. It separated the mind from the body, yes, but failed to store it correctly, resulting in your 'ghost-like' state. The people in the cave probably knew this, which may be why it was not being used when you found it." Zelenka paused, thoughtfully.

"I can understand that. Being a 'ghost' isn't something anyone would choose." McKay's quiet voice made Zelenka look up and he saw again the signs of ill health that had recently started to fade from Rodney's face.

"Of course," Zelenka said sympathetically. "And I imagine that if they had used it, after a few hundred years it would have become quite unbearable."

"A few hundred years? The people in that cave had only been dead for a couple of weeks." Sheppard said in a surprised tone. He had come to stand beside McKay, casually resting his hand on Rodney's shoulder.

"That is true, Major, but they had been in stasis for at least five hundred years. When the roof fell and damaged the spheres it somehow initiated the wake-up process. Unfortunately, the procedure was interrupted; their bodies were revived, but their minds were never returned and they died without ever re-awakening." Zelenka picked up a twisted metal fragment from his bench and turned it over in his hand. "It was quite a while before I realised that it was a two-part process. The mind can only be safely restored into a living body." He smiled to himself as a thought struck him. "You must get the hardware up and running before installing the software."

"You could have warned us about that, Doc." Sheppard's wry smile took the sting from the reproach but Zelenka remembered the panic in Sheppard's voice when he thought that the rescue had failed.

"Yes, Major, I'm sorry. I did not expect it to take quite so long." Zelenka smiled apologetically back at Sheppard and carefully replaced the fragment on the bench.

"But each time before that I just woke up." Zelenka could hear the strain in Rodney's voice and replied tentatively.

"I think I know why. Water was seeping through your sphere and it shorted out the failsafe, so that your body was revived and your mind restored in the same instant." He hesitated before continuing. "The shock to your consciousness must have been considerable. I am amazed that you survived."

Sheppard's dry voice broke the uneasy silence that followed. "I always knew your mighty ego would come in useful one day, Rodney."

McKay turned in his chair to scowl at Sheppard. "Thank you, Major."

Zelenka could see that Sheppard's teasing had the desired effect on McKay when his dark mood passed and was replaced by typical McKay-like annoyance. He looked over and tried to catch Sheppard's eye, but the Major was grinning impishly down at McKay's glare.

Turning his back to the Major with an exasperated sigh, McKay asked. "What about the other spheres?" He leaned across the bench and picked up the memory module of the damaged sphere.

Zelenka replied. "As you yourself saw, four of the spheres were already badly damaged when you found the cave and, from what we can now tell, are almost totally destroyed. However, the one we have here, the one that Major Sheppard retrieved, seems to have most of its components intact."

McKay looked appraisingly at the fragment in his hand. "If what you are saying is right, there could still be a consciousness in here."

"That is also my conclusion, but, without a body to restore it into I don't see how ..."

Xx oOo xX

Sheppard looked back from the doorway at the two scientists, heads together, as they discussed the possibility of contacting the stored mind. The idea was fascinating, but he'd quickly become lost in the technical jargon. He would return later for Rodney, but, for now, he was happy to leave him engrossed in work.

As he headed back towards his own quarters he could hear McKay's voice, raised in impatience. Things were getting back to normal.

End


End file.
